Cole was packing his bags to go to the Billings airport. For the first time in his forty years, he was finally able to go hunt the African lion. Even though he was very excited about his journey to the African wilderness, his friend Jared was on his mind. Jared was a very good friend to Coles. Jared had never returned from his own hunt in Africa 10 years ago. There was all kind of rumors that he had become a man like Tarzan. After his bags were packed he was off to the airport. When he got to their nerves began to set in boarded the plane to Africa. “Finally I am on my way” he thought.
Cole arrived in Africa after a 15 hour flight. He was very exhausted so he didn’t care that the only room he could find was in an old run down dusty hotel. It didn’t take long at all till he was dead asleep. Early the next morning he caught a ride from an old gray bearded man named John that had a rusted out old jeep that was headed to Botswana. After 3 hours long hours Cole arrived at his destination at a small hunting lodge in southern Botswana. It was just getting dark and the tempters dropped dramatically so Cole and his new hunting friends built a fire. It was getting late so they settled for hot dogs and roasted marshmallows. Then they talked about his upcoming adventure.
The next morning it was not as hot as everyone expected. Cole was very nervous but excited to go hunt the most dangerous and most valued animal, the lion. The guide asked Cole if he wanted him to come along, but Cole said, “I want to try it on my own.” So, Cole packed his backpack with some essentials, coat, sweatshirt, bullets, gun, food, matches, and last of all his tent. The guide gave Cole some pointers and one caught his attention watch out for the Jazani. Cole asked,” What’s a Jazani”. The guide said Jazani was what everyone called the man that got lost here 10 years ago. Some people say he became another Tarzan, but much crazier. After rechecking his gear Cole was on his way.
After only 1 mile into his journey Cole stopped dead in his track as he was face to knees with the biggest creature he has ever seen in his life the elephant. He thought to himself, “do not panic just walk away as slow as you can.” When Cole took a step back the elephant would take a step forward. The elephant was very curious of him so nervously Cole picked up a rock and threw it next to the elephant. When the elephant turned to see what was going on, Cole took off. He was hiding behind a big boulder were it was shaded so Cole decided to take rest and maybe take a little nap. But all of a sudden out of nowhere he heard the beast roar. It gave him chills down his spine. It sounded far away so he knew he still had a long way to go. After hearing the roar Cole it was to dark to travel so he decided to make camp for the night.
The next morning Cole awoke to the horrifying sounds, of an animal being eaten alive. He got out of his tent and followed the yapping sounds of the unmistakable yapping of the hyena. All of a sudden Cole heard rustling behind and he knew it was the hyena. Cole ran as fast as he could back to his tent and just as he got there the hyena ripped into his calf. Cole cringed in pain but still managed to grab his gun and kill the hyena. He got a first aid kit out and bandaged up his split opened calf. Even thought he was wounded he was not about to give up his hunt. So he packed up all of his belongings and headed out to the more forested areas of Botswana.
While Cole headed into the thick forest his thoughts go back to Jazani. When he was half way through the thick timber he saw a bunch of cape buffalo tracks Cole was very interested in taking a look at the beautiful creatures. Cole heard all kinds of sounds that he was not use. Then he felt the ground tremble. Before he knew it he heard them running. Then he saw the buffalo they were running right for him. He had no clue what to do so he tried to climb a tree but it was too late, then out of nowhere Cole heard a man yelling, it sounded like Tarzan he grabbed Cole by the waist and pulled him to safety. After getting a good look at him Cole knew it was is long lost friend Jared. Jared took Cole to his house which looked more like a tree house.
When they got to the house Cole asks Jared if he recognized him, Jared nodded his head and gave Cole a great big hug. During the next couple of hours Cole and Jared made up for all the lost time. Cole asked Jared why he didn’t want to come home and Jared said “After I lost both my parents and my wife leaving me I decided to live a wild life.” After all the talking was done Jared asked him what brings him to Africa. Then Cole told him he was there to kill a trophy lion, Jared said he would help him track a trophy lion.
After an afternoon of resting, They decided to go on an evening hunt. The first sign of a lion was the fresh kill, you could tell that it was a lion and no other creatures due to the enormous tracks left be hide. About 3 hours later, Jared finally found a trophy lion. They had to make a little hike over a hill and when they got over the hill all of the lions were gone and there was no trace of them what so ever. It was getting dark so Cole ask Jared what they were going to do now and all he said was make a camp in a tree to be away from all the danger.
The next morning they got up, ate some jerky from Coles pack and went off in the direction they thought the lion may have gone. When they crossed fresh lion tracks they decided to persue. After an hour and a half of tracking the lions they found them resting under a big tree with lots of shade. And after close scoping Cole had found the trophy lion. After careful stalking Cole was able to sneak up to a bush and put his cross hairs right on the lion, and after a gentle squeeze of the trigger the lion lay motionless. After several minutes Cole and Jared decided to check on the lion. When they got up to the lion it was a beast. Cole was so excited he jumped up and down. They gutted the lion and Cole put it over his back, and then they left to get back to Jared’s tree house.
After all of the farewells Cole decided he needed to make it back to his lodge before it got dark, because that’s when all the predators come out to hunt. When Cole made it to the lodge there were many pictures taken and a nice feast to celebrate the taking of a great creature. After a good night sleep and a good breakfast it was his time to board the plane back to America with many fond memories. Cole hesitated and thought to himself before he boarded the plane, “I will one day come back to Africa.”